The ball movement improved immediately. The big men begansprinting to the blocks, and the guards ran their curl patternswith conviction. All forward Toni Kukoc had to do was don his newjersey on Feb. 18 and he instantly became the most popular guy onthe 76ers. "His teammates love him," says Philadelphia coachLarry Brown. "He's so unselfish, they just know he's going togive them the ball."

It's a gratifying time for the 6'11" Kukoc, who was acquired fromthe Bulls in a three-way trade with the Warriors for LarryHughes. Kukoc wasn't always beloved by teammates in his 6 1/2seasons in Chicago, where he was perceived as the pet of generalmanager Jerry Krause, who fawned over him in public and paid himmore than he paid Scottie Pippen. Other Bulls questioned Kukoc'stoughness and defense. He was the whipping boy of coach PhilJackson, who periodically wanted to trade him.

Yet when the Bulls decided to deal Kukoc, among his most ardentpursuers was Jackson, who's now in charge of the Lakers. "Ialways had respect for Phil as a very good coach who understandsthe game," Kukoc, 31, says. "At the same time I thought, He'slucky to have such a good team. He treated players verydifferently. I think he saw me and said, Here's another Europeanguy. Let me shut him down as quickly as possible before hebecomes a pain in the rear.

"I talked to him about that. I told him, 'Instead of yelling atme all the time during the game, you could show me beforepractice or after practice what I should be working on. The wayyou are treating me, it's dragging me down.' One day I realizedthat every time he needed a bucket or something to happen, hecalled my name. All he wanted was for me to play at the samelevel and intensity every night."

Philadelphia management figured that a proven winner such asKukoc would have a settling influence on the team, and he has: Atweek's end the 76ers had gone 17-9 since his arrival, and Kukocwas averaging 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Sixersmanagement also hoped that Kukoc's spread-the-wealth approachwould rub off on scoring machine Allen Iverson, who says, "Youbetter have your hands up and ready with Toni, or you'll get aball in the face and you'll be off to the sideline with a bloodynose."

Still, when he penetrates, Iverson forces shots against multipledefenders instead of kicking the ball back to a wide-open Kukoc."I think it's a matter of trust," Kukoc says. "Allen's still nota mature NBA player. He's great--every day he amazes me with theamount of talent he's got--but he doesn't yet have the totalunderstanding of NBA basketball. When the game gets tight, hesays, 'I'm not going to look for anyone else, because I trustmyself more than anyone else.' There's only one guy in theleague, Shaquille O'Neal, who should say that. There used to beanother guy, but he's gone."

Michael Jordan, too, was brutally tough on Kukoc during Kukoc'searly years in Chicago. The relentless criticism from a certifiedicon was devastating at first, then merely tiresome. Now, howcould anything bother him? When Brown told Kukoc last week thatsmall forward George Lynch, who was returning from a sprainedright knee ligament, deserved to have his starting job back,Kukoc shrugged off the demotion. "I'm better prepared now tohandle such things," Kukoc says. Whether in the long run he canflourish alongside Iverson, whose indifference to team rules andto Brown's exhortations in the huddle remains a gnawing problem,is another story.

Kukoc will be a free agent this summer, and he says he wouldprefer to re-sign with Philadelphia, which has players--and acoach--who appreciate his skills. But what if Jackson camecalling? What if Jackson said he was sorry for all the roughtreatment in Chicago? "In the first place, he would neverapologize," Kukoc says. "He would just give me one of thosesmiles and say, 'You know who I am, and I know who you are, solet's not pretend.'

"I would think about it," Kukoc says. "The Lakers are going towin a championship in the next couple of years. That's adefinite. I won three championships with [Jackson]. Each year heshowed more and more trust in me. It would be easy for me to goto L.A., where I know the system so well." Kukoc pauses, grinningat the prospect of Jackson's asking him to play on his team. "Iguess," Kukoc says, "that would mean he would actually have togive me the satisfaction of being needed."

Vin Baker's New LeafThe Word Is Defense

First rule of thumb for the new Vin Baker: Turn off the carradio--or at least keep it tuned exclusively to FM stations. It'sgotten ugly for the SuperSonics' power forward on the AM dial,where talk-radio callers shred him for his defensive lapses, hisexcess weight, his miserable season. Every day someone questionswhether Baker is worthy of his spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympicteam. Some guys get used to this kind of abuse. Every time Bakerhears it, he feels as if someone has stuck a knife in his gut.

His numbers this season are respectable--16.8 points and 7.8rebounds per game through Sunday--but misleading. A four-timeAll-Star, Baker hasn't approached that status in the past twoseasons. His detractors find it all the more outrageous that he'sin the second year of a seven-year, $87 million contract. As thepostseason nears, the Sonics have told Baker to forget aboutscoring and be a defender and a rebounder. "He's a key for us--wedon't make a secret of that," says general manager Wally Walker."We're not trying to put undue pressure on him, but we need himto be active on the boards and on defense. When he is, we're aneffective team."

No one needs to tell Baker how far he has fallen. "I'm trying togive myself a crash course in getting back to the old 20 [points]and 10 [rebounds] Vin Baker," he says. "I stay late. I do extrawork. People think I should be back to it overnight, but it'salmost been like starting over."

Baker, 28, shocked the basketball world after the lockout inJanuary 1999 when he reported to camp 25 pounds overweight. "WhenVin got out of shape last year, he started taking shortcuts,"Seattle coach Paul Westphal says. "He saved steps. He didn't havethe same quickness, so he started pushing more."

As the criticism mounted, so did Baker's resolve to make it goaway. He pressed, which led to foul trouble, which led to morefrustration. He still needs to trim a few pounds off his 6'11"frame. Sonics point guard Gary Payton has chastised him publiclythis season for letting down the team, which at week's end hadtumbled to the eighth position in the Western Conference.

"Gary is one of my best friends," Baker says. "He says some toughthings sometimes, but they're usually accurate. So you take itone of two ways. You say, 'This is ridiculous. I want out ofhere; there's no camaraderie.' Or you say, 'I'm going to fightthrough this.' I plan to stay and fight, and believe me, so doesGary. I've never heard him say anything in passing--or even injoking--about getting out of here."

Three weeks ago, just after Payton and Vernon Maxwell had theirwell-publicized locker room tussle, which led to rumors thatPayton would ask for a trade, Westphal warned that if someplayers did not improve on defense there would be "major changes"in the lineup. Westphal mentioned no names, but it was obviouswhom he was talking about. "When Coach said that, I didn't lookaround the locker room," says Baker. "I looked at myself."

Since then, reports Westphal, Baker has been extremely active onD, blocking shots and worrying more about his opponents' pointtotal than about his own. "Like I told Vin," Westphal says, "it'snot too late to fix this."

The Coaching CarouselGot a Job to Fill? Call Lonnie

As the crocuses bloom and the birds begin to chirp, the regularseason winds down--and heads begin to roll. For agent LonnieCooper, who represents nine coaches, several former coaches and aslew of assistants, this means a mad scramble to save jobs and,if not, make sure his clients fill the openings.

As many as 10 teams may make coaching changes this spring, andthe 45-year-old Cooper will have a client somehow involved. He'sbeen there before. In 1993 he helped Lenny Wilkens hop from theCavaliers to the Hawks, Bob Weiss go from the Hawks to theClippers and Mike Fratello move from Turner Sports' broadcastbooth to the Cavaliers--all in 48 hours.

Cooper has represented the four head coaches the Magic hasemployed. He represented the three Heat coaches before Pat Riley.He represented Pistons coach Chuck Daly; who was succeeded byCooper client Ron Rothstein; who was succeeded by Cooper clientDon Chaney; who was replaced by--gasp!--a non-Cooper client, DougCollins; who was replaced by Cooper client Alvin Gentry. "Teamsnever ask my opinion about firing my guys," the Atlanta-basedagent says. "I can't stop it, but I can turn it into anopportunity for another client."

How does one fired coach feel about Cooper's hammering out thedeal for his successor? Isn't there a conflict of interest?"Lonnie's integrity is above reproach," Wilkens says.

That's not to say that Cooper's job doesn't get complicated. WhenChris Ford was fired by the Clippers on Feb. 3 and assistant JimTodd was about to take over, Ford hooked his replacement up withCooper, who negotiated Todd's deal. The Clippers say Todd willnot be in charge next season, but candidates for the positioninclude Clippers assistants Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and DennisJohnson, both Cooper clients, as well as Fratello.

According to league sources the Pacers have already interviewedtheir top assistant, Rick Carlisle, as well as Kings assistantByron Scott--neither of whom is a Cooper client--about replacingLarry Bird, but Isiah Thomas, who signed with Cooper last spring,is in the mix as well (though he may have to sell his interest inthe CBA). Thomas is also in line to succeed Don Nelson with theMavericks.

Will the Warriors make a coaching switch? Garry St. Jean isleaning toward limiting his duties to the front office, whichshould open the door for assistant Dave Cowens. (He's not aCooper client, but St. Jean is.) Will the Wizards make a changenext season? Cooper called Michael Jordan last week to find outfor client Darrell Walker, the current coach. The Nets? Cooperclient Don Casey is probably gone, and New Jersey may bring inFratello. Meanwhile, say league sources, Celtics coach RickPitino, who loves Stephon Marbury and has ties to Nets minorityowner George Steinbrenner through their horse racing interests,has put out feelers about the New Jersey job. If Pitino leavesthe Celtics, they may consider Wayne Embry--yes, a Cooper guy--fortheir G.M. position.

Line of the Week'Zo Fine

Heat center Alonzo Mourning, April 6 versus the Hornets: 40minutes, 12-21 FG, 2-4 FT, 26 points, 17 rebounds, 6 blocks, 2steals. 'Zo padded his league lead in blocks in the 76-70 win,which helped Miami keep its hold on second place in the East.

For the latest scores and stats, plus Phil Taylor's NBA mailbag,go to cnnsi.com/basketball.

COLOR PHOTO: LOU CAPOZZOLA/NBA ENTERTAINMENT Though he took his share of lumps with the Bulls, Kukoc still has that championship drive.COLOR PHOTO: MANNY MILLAN To help Seattle advance in the playoffs, Baker will be thinking fewer points, more defense.

Around The Rim

In late February and mid-March, Hornets guard Eddie Jones droppedfrom 200 pounds to 180 due to heavy playing time and to insomnia,for which he began taking medication. Concerned about theirAll-Star's condition, Charlotte's coaches ordered him to drinkprotein shakes and do extra weight training. At week's end Joneswas up to 194 pounds....

Celtics coach Rick Pitino told his players and the Boston medialast month that if Florida, coached by his protege BillyDonovan, reached the NCAA final, he would miss practice on theafternoon of April 3 so he could fly to Indianapolis and attendthe game that night. (Donovan's Gators lost the final toMichigan State 89-76.) But while the Celtics were working outwithout him in Boston, Pitino was at a hotel in Indy giving amotivational speech to GTE executives--a talk that was scheduledtwo months ago (whether Florida was in the final or not) and forwhich he was paid $50,000, according to Washington SpeakersBureau, Inc....

Before the tip-off last Thursday in Vancouver, Grizzlies coachLionel Hollins refused to take charge of his team unless hissalary was adjusted. Hollins, who was still receiving anassistant's salary of around $250,000 despite having beenpromoted on Dec. 16, had been told by the team's new ownershipthat he would not get a raise. (Dick Versace is likely toreplace Hollins at season's end.) The coach's threat promptedGrizzlies management to bump his salary to $600,000.

Instant Successes

With 64 wins through Sunday the Lakers had clinched home courtadvantage throughout the playoffs, but they would have to win therest of their regular-season games for Phil Jackson to equal themark for most victories by a coach in his first year with a team.Since 1950, these are the coaches who had the most success intheir inaugural season with a team.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything